Juan's POV
I was sat in the coffee shop inside the bookstore, listening to a demo on my laptop for work.
I was taking down notes in a small notebook while listening. It was about to be three in the afternoon and I just realized I've spent my whole morning in here.
I quickly finish up this last demo and decide to save the few remaining to listen to for later tonight. I finish putting my things away in my backpack and when I push the chair out I look up and find Antonella looking at some books on the store side.
I smile a little to myself before deciding to walk over to the girl I was crushing on.
"The Caribbean," I read the title of the travel book and surprise her.
"Oh my God," she smiles up at me. "Hi."
"Sorry," I chuckle at her. "How are you?"
"I'm good," she nods. "And you?"
"A bit bored, but can't complain too much," I shrug.
"Well," she closes the book in hand. "If you're bored then you're boring."
"Wow," I say and she begins to laugh to herself. "You don't even know me."
"Be that as it may," Antonella looks up at me. "I'm sure there's plenty of things you can do on this fine day."
"What are you up to?" I follow her down the aisle. "I mean travel books can only be so fascinating."
"I've always wanted to go to the Caribbean so, yeah," she nods. "They are."
"Are you just gonna shop for books all day?"
"Some clothes too," she smiles. "Did you wanna join me?"
"Really?" I ask surprised.
"You said you were bored," she nods, a table of books between us. "Don't rush to say yes," she smirks then picks up a book and turns it over.
"Only if I can buy you coffee afterwards," I propose.
"Did you not just have a cup of coffee?" Antonella nods over at the coffee shop.
"You saw me?"
"Yeah," she blushes. "But I didn't think you'd come over. Or that you even saw me for that matter."
"How could I not?" We stand there smiling at one another for a second. "A keeper?" I ask.
"Who?" She shakes her head.
"The book," I laugh and point at the book she was holding onto for a bit.
"Oh," she puts a hand on her forehead. "Yeah," Antonella nods. "I'm actually done here. We can go pay."
○○○
"New Kids on the Block beat both," Antonella raises her eyebrow as she keeps swiping through shirts on a circular rack.
"You're crazy," I laugh as I cross my arms, her shopping bags in hand. "Backstreet Boys are better."
"They're better than *NSYNC, yeah," Antonella agrees. "But the entire "Hangin' Tough" album is more iconic than the entire discography of both other bands."
"Who are you?" I begin to laugh at her and she joins. "How old are you, Antonella?"
"Twenty-six, like you," she answers. "And call me Anto."
"Oh," I smile. "We're up to nicknames?"
"I've had a good time so far," she nods. "Nicknames are applicable."
Anto pulls out a shirt from the rack and holds it up.
"I like it," I nod. "It would look good with light jeans."
"And an updo," she agrees.
"Hoop earrings," I add and she widens her eyes.
"You have a keen sense for fashion, Juan."
"I'm- I'm not gay," I clarify.
"I didn't say you were," she begins to laugh at me loudly. "Quick to defend your masculinity there."
"I just didn't want you thinking-"
"And why is that?"
"I'm into girls," I nod one last time awkwardly and get an eye roll from her before she walks away.
I've been with Antonella for almost four hours now, and we've practically been to every store in the entire mall.
"Anto," I call after her. "I think it's time to ask where you're getting all this extra money from. That agency you and Meli work at doesn't pay this much."
"Didn't you know?" She stops in her tracks. "I'm a stripper too."
"Oh," I nod. "That's cool." Antonella begins to smile and I catch on. "You're fucking with me," I roll my eyes.
"Noble occupation, but not for me," she grins before shoving me back a little. "I got my refund check from school."
"You're in school and working?"
"Yeah, I'm getting my master's degree in executive business."
"A smart girl, huh," I nod. "Congratulations."
"Thank you," she smiles before stepping in line. "What about you?"
"I work at a record label," I nod.
"That's so cool," she smiles. "Where is it?"
"Uptown," I explain. "I work from home mostly. They have me doing some intern like work, but I'm working my way up."
"Good for you," she says before stepping over to the cashier. "I believe in you."
"You don't even know me," I chuckle at the girl.
"Well I'm starting to," she shrugs. "And that's got nothing to do with it."
Once the transaction is done, we walk out of the shop and to an escalator to finally leave the mall.
"How far are you from here?" Anto asks.
"I'm headed the same way as you," I explain. "But just ten minutes away.
"Ah, well," she begins. "There's a great bar fifteen minutes from here if you wanna meet me halfway and grab a drink instead of coffee."
"That sounds great actually," I nod. "I'd like that."
We stay silent for a bit, before she breaks the silence.
"Thanks for carrying my bags," Anto points to all the plastic bags in my hand as we step off the escalator.
○○○
"You're hysterical," I can't contain my laughter even after I try taking a sip of my beer.
"I didn't know!" She exclaims.
"Speaking of work," I look over to her. "How did you meet Melissa?"
"Meli," she smiles. "She was an intern when she first got to Miami and I was the first friend she made. I quite like her."
"Yeah," I agree. "She makes Felipe happy. And she's mature enough for her age," I add and make Anto chuckle.
"How'd you meet Felipe?"
"High school," I explain. "Not much to it."
"You guys best friends?"
"Not really," I frown. "Just a regular amount of friends," I chuckle. "What about you and Eva?" I get down to the real reason I even approached Antonella. "Is she your best friend?"
"I like Meli more," she admits. "Don't tell her I said that," we laugh. "Eva, uh, doesn't have many friends and she was struggling with finding a place to live, and so was I, so I kinda just threw the idea out there and now we're roommates."
"You're the nice girl at work," I point out.
"No," she shakes her head. "I mean...."
"Yeah," we both agree at the same time and start to laugh.
"I didn't plan on it," Anto frowns.
"You're just a nice girl naturally," I nod. "I like that."
"I don't like confrontation," she nods. "I have trouble saying 'no,' also."
"Things you can work on," I shrug.
"What are some of your flaws?"
"None, couldn't you tell?" I joke and get a swat on my left arm.
"I can tell you're a real ladies man."
"I'm really not," I shake my head. "Just trying to find a nice girl."
"I think people shouldn't look," she explains. "When you don't that's when the right person comes along."
"You're not wrong," I nod. "So, is Eva the mean girl at work?"
"She likes to keep to herself," Anto shrugs. "I don't like to talk about other people like this...."
"You're not saying anything bad about her."
"I guess not. She, uh, really puts up walls. Meli and I barely know much about her, but we like to include her in things. We don't want her not having any friends."
"I've seen her Instagram, she has friends," I let slip.
"Oh," Antonella notices. "I mean, she likes to go out clubbing and stuff, never goes alone, but 'friend-friends,' she doesn't have."
"And you?" I try to hide the fact that I'm asking about Eva.
"I have my fair amount of friends," she smiles before leaning on the bar.
"What about friends of the male persuasion?" I cock an eyebrow at her and she smirks.
"I got guy friends," she nods. "Not a boyfriend, though. I'm not looking for one," she calls the bartender over. "But I'll let you know if Eva is."
I frown and shake my head when she says that, realizing I wasn't so slick.
"Why do you say that?" I try to hide it even more.
"Oh, so you're not asking me for info on Eva?"
"I am... asking for info about you and Eva and Meli," I lie. "I've hung out with Meli enough, but it's starting to look serious between her and Felipe and now that I've met you two," I refer to her and Eva. "I'd like to know what type of group we're forming."
"Oh, what makes it look serious? Moving in and owning a dog together?" She mocks me. "I don't think we're forming a group," Antonella shakes her head. "Like I said, Eva is basically on her own."
I take my wallet out and pay for all our drinks.
"You didn't have to-"
"Save the rest of your refund check," I point at the bags on the floor and get a smile out of her. "Now let me walk you home."
"That's okay. You're back over that way," she points down the block.
"I wouldn't let you walk home alone."
"Well," she smiles up at me. "Maybe you don't have a flaw."